


The Curse and the Forsaken Son

by Cassie_Laica



Category: Original Work
Genre: Fantasy, Magic, Science Fiction, Short Story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-22
Updated: 2019-11-22
Packaged: 2021-02-18 01:30:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21519697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cassie_Laica/pseuds/Cassie_Laica
Summary: Isaac's backstory leading up to where the main story line takes place
Kudos: 1
Collections: Alexandria's Codex: A collection of stories





	The Curse and the Forsaken Son

Abraham had studied hieroglyphs throughout his life, but these ones were different. The premeditated scratching meant something and he knew it. He copied the symbols in to his journal, as well as the location of the strange, enormous door. It was made from a material that resembled none of what Abraham had ever seen, so he could not be sure if it was stone or metal. The large door was impossible to push open and the cryptic messages that were written along the cold walls appeared to have some ties to its secrets.

He spent days transcribing the strange code into his notes, using his torch as the only source of light. Two days after his water ran out, he finally finished writing. Weak from starvation, fatigued from dehydration, he clung to the cavern walls as he slowly made his way back to the surface. He spent the next years researching the hieroglyphs. His burning curiosity drove him further and further to finding the answers. He lost many things on his path of discovery.

His wife threw papers at him, shouting at him to sign them, which he did without a read. Sofia had grown tired of working her hands to the bone, desperately trying to provide for her children with food and a roof over their heads. Out of desperation, she married off two of her daughters Bilqees and Fahimah to wealthy men, making sure they would have a comfortable lifestyle and a loving husband.

The third daughter, Zakiyah, wanted to join the military and so Sofia aided her child to disguise herself as a man. In the military, Zakiyah was in no fear of poverty, rose up to become a general, and would eventually settle down with a lovely maiden after decades of leading her army. Throughout her years of service and onward, her secret remained unbeknownst to the military and the government.

The same time Sofia was helping Zakiyah disguise herself, she helped her son Soloman burn his dresses and destroy his long-kept hair and jewelry. She bought him proper cloths, educated him on the laws the men held in their society. With the nurture he needed, he became the man he always wanted to be. He would struggle at times to pull himself out of poverty, but his sisters would always be at his side to help him when things would get hard.

With most of Sofia's children stably established into their new lives, she strode into the courthouse and demanded to be separated from her deadbeat, parasitic husband. The laws of the land forbade any woman from getting divorced, for the mindset was that she could not survive without a man to help her. Yet Sofia's persistence shifted the judges into bending the law, allowing an exception for her case. Once her ties to her husband were cut, she settled down with her own business.

Her eldest son, Isaac, remained with his father. Despite her encouragements to find someone to settle down with, he refused. He couldn't understand why his mother would want to leave her husband. A woman's job was to serve and support her family, not separate them! When Sofia asked him to come with her, he spat in her face. He screamed at her, and in his hatred for his mother and what she had done, he cut his bond with her. If Abraham was no longer Sofia's husband, then Isaac was no longer her son. She had turned around and left without a word or a sound. Afterwards, Isaac worked hard to keep the house so his father could continue to work in peace. He would remind his father to take breaks and to take care of himself, bringing him food and water. He soon found himself in his mother's position, working himself to the ground. Bitterness had begun to fester inside of him.

Fourteen years after he found the hieroglyphs, Abraham finally uncovered their meaning. His scribbled notes decrypted and translated the long-forgotten language into his modern tongue. He had finally come to understand what it all meant, down in the cavern he had once been. He wrote the final version into a small, thick leather notebook, containing the modern translation in his native tongue in the first half, with the phonetic spelling and original text in the other half. Once he finished, he destroyed the rest of the notes he deemed unimportant to be written in his magnus opus. He was going to use the book to make breakthroughs in the linguistic and historic anthropology world. He was going to be well known for years to come! Oh yes, Abraham was going to publish only what was needed for his success, but he would store the rest of what he had learned over the years in his mind. He had a good memory, and all that time spent researching and reading wouldn't let him forget any time soon.

He was getting excited thinking about his future. He was going to make sure that his family would be well cared for. Sofia would forgive him and his daughters will come back. Isaac could relax and take care of himself, instead of Abraham for a change. He would make sure the girls would be married off properly, and that they were wealthy. They would all be wealthy! He would be famous! With joy, he flipped to a random page in his notebook. The page he landed on was on the half with the phonetic spelling and original text. It told a story of a woman that was locked away as punishment for her sins. She would keep taking and taking, until her lover cursed her, locked her away in a dark cave. Never to be released again. It wasn't the only story he decoded, there were many others. Abraham was excited to show the world his discovery. He began practicing how he would present in a conference. Clearing his throat, he greedily read aloud a small excerpt at the end of the story. Once the last words left his lips, the ink on the papers glowed crimson red...

Isaac heard his father scream in horror and pain, followed by a _THUD!_ coming from his room. He called out to him and hearing no response, dashed towards his father's chamber. Inthe unkempt room, he was met with a haunting sight. Abraham was contorting painfully, mouth wide open, eyeballs popped out of his sockets, and blood seeping from every orifice. Without hesitating, Isaac rushed to his father's side. He knew there was nothing he could do to save him, but he still was desperately hoping there was something.

"Father-," Isaac began, but was interrupted.

"Isaac," Abraham's voice was a wet gasp. "I've made a mistake. Don't read my book."

"Don't strain yourself, father," Isaac pleaded as he felt his father grab his arm with little strength that remained. He gripped his father's arm tightly in return. "Don't speak, I'll get help!"

"N-NO!" Abraham gargled. "It's too late... for me ... Promise me ... you'll burn the book! It's dang-" His lungs had filled up with his blood and he began to cough. Whatever Abraham wanted to warn Isaac about, he never had the chance to say. His grip on his son's arm loosened, and Isaac was left alone in the room.

He sat there, holding his father's body for what felt like an eternity. All these years that his father spent, researching and devoting his time into his project, and this is how it would end? His family was gone, everyone had left him behind. He had worn himself out, just like his mother, supporting his father and himself. Anger boiled inside of him. The bitterness he felt from working hard day and night, and coming home to a father that would never leave his room, fueled his rage. His mother left him behind, abandoning him and hadn't looked back. His sisters never so much as aided him when he struggled to make payments for the house that he called home. His father, refused to drop his stupid research and just let fourteen years slip right by. Fourteen years that Isaac would never get back, and never would be rewarded for his dedication to his father. Isaac's eyes fell on the thick leather book, a few feet from him. His father's last work.

"People will know of what you've discovered," he swore. "I won't let your death be in vain. The world shall know of your legacy, and then Mother and my sisters will regret leaving us."

He disregarded his father's carcass, and crawled towards it. He wiped his hands of the blood and gently picked the book up. He could feel his body humming excitedly when he felt the soft leather in his hands. While cradling the book carefully to not let Abraham's blood seep from his clothes onto the pages, he felt like his life had purpose again. He could feel traces of the ancient power still remaining in the leather and pages, finally awakened after years unknown. Power that if he could control, he could make up for the years he lost and suffered. He could get his revenge.

Oh yes. He would make them pay, he would make them all pay for leaving him behind.

**Author's Note:**

> There are some stuff to improve with this piece, I honestly needed to just throw this somewhere. I am coming back to it and editing, but for now, this is all I got


End file.
